<p>Thiruvananthapuram: With the annual pilgrimage season just weeks away, S Arun Kumar Namboothiri was selected on Thursday as the new Melsanthi (chief priest) of the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple.</p>.<p>Vasudevan Namboothiri from Kozhikode has been chosen as the Melshanti of the Malikappuram temple, situated just 100 meters away from Lord Ayyappa temple.</p>.<p>The selection was made through a traditional draw after the Ushapooja (morning prayer) at Sabarimala temple which was opened for monthly pooja on Wednesday.</p>.<p>Hailing from Sakthikulangara in Kollam district, Arun Kumar Namboothiri was selected through the draw of lots at the 'Sannidhanam,' the temple premises, in the morning.</p>.Temple board defends virtual queue reservation in Sabarimala, says no to spot booking.<p>Rishikesh Varma, a boy from the Pandalam royal family, picked the lot for the Sabarimala Melsanthi.</p>.<p>Similarly, Vaishnavi, a girl from the Pandalam royal family, drew the lot for the Malikappuram Melsanthi.</p>.<p>There were 25 candidates in the preliminary list of priests for Sabarimala and 15 candidates for Malikappuram.</p>.<p>The draw was conducted in the presence of Tantris (head priests) Kandararu Rajeevaru and Kandararu Brahmadathan, along with Devaswom Board President P S Prashanth, board members, and other top officials. </p>
<p>Thiruvananthapuram: With the annual pilgrimage season just weeks away, S Arun Kumar Namboothiri was selected on Thursday as the new Melsanthi (chief priest) of the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple.</p>.<p>Vasudevan Namboothiri from Kozhikode has been chosen as the Melshanti of the Malikappuram temple, situated just 100 meters away from Lord Ayyappa temple.</p>.<p>The selection was made through a traditional draw after the Ushapooja (morning prayer) at Sabarimala temple which was opened for monthly pooja on Wednesday.</p>.<p>Hailing from Sakthikulangara in Kollam district, Arun Kumar Namboothiri was selected through the draw of lots at the 'Sannidhanam,' the temple premises, in the morning.</p>.Temple board defends virtual queue reservation in Sabarimala, says no to spot booking.<p>Rishikesh Varma, a boy from the Pandalam royal family, picked the lot for the Sabarimala Melsanthi.</p>.<p>Similarly, Vaishnavi, a girl from the Pandalam royal family, drew the lot for the Malikappuram Melsanthi.</p>.<p>There were 25 candidates in the preliminary list of priests for Sabarimala and 15 candidates for Malikappuram.</p>.<p>The draw was conducted in the presence of Tantris (head priests) Kandararu Rajeevaru and Kandararu Brahmadathan, along with Devaswom Board President P S Prashanth, board members, and other top officials. </p>